Mike McCarthy

After serving as a graduate assistant at Fort Hays State from 1987 to 1988, McCarthy returned home to Pittsburgh and was hired in 1989 to work under Mike Gottfried and then later Paul Hackett at the University of Pittsburgh, where he served as a graduate assistant for three seasons before coaching wide receivers during the 1992 season. Initially during the off season he also worked on the Pennsylvania Turnpike to supplement his income.[5]

in 1993, McCarthy was hired by the NFL's Kansas City Chiefs under head coach Marty Schottenheimer. After working two years as an offensive quality control assistant, McCarthy became quarterbacks coach, overseeing the work of Rich Gannon, Elvis Grbac, and Steve Bono. When Schottenheimer resigned after the 1998 season, McCarthy left Kansas City and became the Packers quarterbacks coach. In the 1999 season, Packers quarterback Brett Favre threw for 4,091 yards, the fourth-best total of his career.

After the Packers released the entire coaching staff following the 1999 season, McCarthy became the offensive coordinator of the New Orleans Saints. He would remain in that position for five seasons and was selected as NFC Assistant Coach of the Year by USA Today in 2000. New Orleans would finish 10th, 13th, 3rd in 2002, 14th, and 14th in points scored during his tenure as offensive coordinator. In his first two years, running back Ricky Williams would run for 2,245 yards with 14 touchdowns.

In 2005, McCarthy served as offensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers.[6] His unit, beset by injuries and led by a rookie quarterback (top draft pick Alex Smith), finished the season ranked 30th in the NFL in points scored and dead last in yards gained. Despite this, running back Frank Gore would emerge to run for over 600 yards with a 4.8 YPC and wide receiver Brandon Lloyd had 733 yards receiving and five touchdowns.

McCarthy in 2012 with the Packers

McCarthy was interviewed by Packers general manager Ted Thompson on January 8, 2006 and was offered the head coaching position three days later.[7]

In 2006, the Packers started with a 4–8 record, but managed to win their last four games to finish the season 8–8, ending with a win against their archrival Chicago Bears, but missing the playoffs for the second straight year.[8]

McCarthy guided the Packers to an 8–1 record in the first 9 games of the 2007 season. McCarthy recorded the best win-loss ratio to start the first 25 games of a career among active coaches, setting the record, at that time, for the best coaching start in Packers' history (Vince Lombardi went 15–10) and tying Washington's Joe Gibbs at 16–9.[9] McCarthy led the Packers to a 13–3 record and made it to the NFC Championship game, where they lost to the eventual Super Bowl-winning New York Giants in overtime. That year, he finished second in voting for The Associated Press Coach of the Year award, garnering 15 votes to Bill Belichick's 29 votes.[10] He signed a five-year contract extension with the team on January 19, 2008, that raised his salary to $3.4 million a year.[11]

In 2008, McCarthy became embroiled in a major controversy involving the future of their franchise quarterback, Brett Favre. The controversy started when Favre, after having announced his retirement, changed his mind, deciding to play again. Favre had assumed that he would be given the starting quarterback job again. McCarthy and Packers' general manager Ted Thompson had stated their desire to move forward with new starter Aaron Rodgers. Favre was offered the opportunity to be the back up to Rodgers, an offer which Favre refused. Favre was ultimately traded to the New York Jets for a conditional fourth-round draft pick.[12]

The 2008 season was McCarthy's worst with the Packers. Despite a solid showing by Rodgers, who threw for over 4,000 yards and posted a 93.8 passer rating,[13] the Packers started with a 5–5 record, proceeding to lose five consecutive close games until they ended the disappointing season with a 31–21 victory over the Detroit Lions. At 6–10, the Packers finished 3rd in the NFC North, only ahead of the Lions, and did not make the playoffs.[14]

In 2009, the Packers showed some signs of improvement, but also had struggles. Rodgers improved on 2008's statistics, but was sacked 50 times, more than any other quarterback in the NFL. The Packers dominated teams with losing records, but were swept by their rival Minnesota Vikings, led by former Packers franchise quarterback Brett Favre. The Packers lost to the previously winless Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but then came back to beat the NFC East-leading Dallas Cowboys.[15] They then began a five-game winning streak, and the Packers qualified for the playoffs with a Week 17 win over the Cardinals, finishing at 11–5, the second playoff berth in McCarthy's tenure.[16] The Packers lost the Wild Card round to the Arizona Cardinals in overtime, 51–45.[17]

McCarthy and quarterback Aaron Rodgers in 2012

In 2010, McCarthy led the Packers to a 10–6 finish, never losing by more than four points and never trailing by more than 7 throughout the entire season. This record was good for 2nd in the NFC North, behind the arch-rival Chicago Bears, with whom they split victories in the regular season. They finished as the sixth seed in the NFC. The Packers went on to defeat the number three-seeded Philadelphia Eagles and then the number one-seeded Atlanta Falcons. In the NFC Championship game they played the second-seeded Chicago Bears for the third time that season. They won 21–14 and advanced to Super Bowl XLV where they played the Pittsburgh Steelers. Super Bowl XLV was the first time these two storied franchises played each other in the postseason. The Green Bay Packers defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 31–25 to win their fourth Super Bowl and 13th NFL title overall.[18]

With a victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in week 16 of the 2014 season, McCarthy notched his 99th win passing Hall of Famer Vince Lombardi (98) for second on the Packers' all-time wins list, behind only Hall of Famer Curly Lambeau (212).[19][20]

In November 2014, McCarthy signed a contract extension through 2018.[21]

On January 18, 2015, McCarthy was criticized after making several play-calls during the NFC Championship game against the Seattle Seahawks that were "conservative".[22] At the start of the game, he went for two field goals at the 1-yard, and was criticized in an article by Tyler Dunne in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel for "not going for it".[23] During the last five minutes of the game, McCarthy called three run plays to Eddie Lacy with 3:52 minutes left, as the Packers punted a play later. The Packers went on to lose 22-28 in overtime, and McCarthy was criticized after the game by Tony Manfred for "not giving Aaron Rodgers a chance" to win the game.[24] A day after the loss, McCarthy stated that he is "not questioning his play-calling", as well as stating that he "came to run the ball".[25]

In February 2015, McCarthy relinquished play calling duties to long-time assistant Tom Clements. Clements was promoted to associate head coach, offense, while wide receivers coach Edgar Bennett was promoted to offensive coordinator, and quarterbacks coach Alex Van Pelt will also act as wide receivers coach. In week 14, though, coach McCarthy once again assumed control over the offensive play calling, at least duration of the game in which the Packers won over the Dallas Cowboys 28–7.[26]

In March 2015, at the annual owners' meetings, Bill Belichick stated that McCarthy is "one of the best coaches I've ever gone up against."[27][28]

On January 2, 2018, it was announced that McCarthy had signed a one-year contract extension with the Green Bay Packers.[29]

On December 2, 2018, after a 17–20 loss to the Arizona Cardinals, McCarthy was fired by the Packers after 13 seasons as the head coach.[30]

After McCarthy was released as Packers head coach, he expressed plans to interview with the New York Jets and the Cleveland Browns;[31] the Arizona Cardinals were also interested,[32] but he declined to interview with them.[33] McCarthy's interview with the Browns was initially scheduled for Thursday, January 3,[34] before being moved to a week later;[35] he declined the role and the Browns hired Freddie Kitchens instead.[36] McCarthy interviewed with the Jets on January 5, 2019,[37] but they hired Adam Gase instead.[38] On January 9, 2019, McCarthy announced that he intended to sit out the 2019 season and return for 2020.[39]

McCarthy interviewed with Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones for 12 hours for the vacant head coach position; he was announced as the Cowboys' new head coach on January 7, 2020.[40][41] McCarthy, who spent his season off watching game film and learning about analytics with fellow coaches, told Jones during the interview that he watched every play of the 2019 season. During his introductory press conference, he admitted that was untrue and that he said it because he "wanted the job."[42]

Upon his hiring, McCarthy became the ninth head coach of the Dallas Cowboys, since the organization was founded, in 1960. On September 13, 2020, McCarthy lost his debut as the head coach of the Cowboys against the Los Angeles Rams by a score of 17–20.[43] On September 20, 2020, McCarthy received his first win as the Cowboys' head coach in a 40–39 win against the Atlanta Falcons.[44] After losing starting quarterback Dak Prescott to a broken ankle early in the season, the Cowboys still remained in playoff contention for most of the season. McCarthy finished his first year with a 6–10 record, 3rd in the NFC East. After the season, which was the Cowboys' worst-ever defensive showing, McCarthy fired defensive coordinator Mike Nolan.